Improvement in car-couplings



l1. H. @L N. BQ SMITH.` yCar-Goupling. No. l62774 Patentedlvlaymaw.

THE GRAPHIC COAPHOTOrLITHJQH PARK PLACEJLY.

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JOHN H. O. SMITH AND NATHAN B. SMITH, OF ST. ELMO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-COUPLlNGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 162,774, dated May 4, 1875; application led March 22, 1875.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, JOHN H. O. SMITH and NATHAN B. SMITH, of vSaint Elmo, county of Fayette and State ot' Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Oar Couplings, of which the followingis a specification A The nature of our invention consists in the construction and arrangement ot' a car-coupling, as will loe hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which our invention appert'iins to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, which ,forms a part ot' this specification, and in which- Figure l is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal vertical section,of our carcoupling.

A represents a draw-bar of any ordinary construction, provided with a flaring vmouth, B, to facilitate the entrance ot' the ordinary coupling-link O. The interior chamber ot ot' the draw-bar is wide enough to receive the coupling-link, and ot' suitable height to allow a slide, D, placed therein to move freely back and forth. At the rear end ot' the slide D is a projecting arm, b, which passes through a slot in the lower or rear end of a semicircular lever E, and has a pin or bolt through its extreme end to prevent its withdrawal from the end of the lever. The lever E is pivoted near its rear end in a slot in the top of the drawhead, by a pin or bolt, t', passing horizont-ally through the same.' From the pivot-point the lever is curved forward in semicircular form, and its forward end is forked to receive the upper end of the coupling-pin G, which is pivoted therein. This pin is slightly curved, and passes through a correspondinglycurved hole in the drawhead immediately, or a short distance back of the mouth B. Near the front end of thelever E is attached a rod, d, which is to run up to the top of the car, so as to uncouplefrom the top without going between the cars, or it may be uncoupled from either side by means ot a lever suitably arranged for that purpose. l/Vhen the coupling-pin is raised the lower end of the lever'E moves the slide D forward in the chamber a., and the weight of said slide prevents the lpin from falling down. When two cars are brought together, the coupling-link enters the draw-head and pushes the slide D backward. This movement turns the lever E on its pivot, and throws the pin G down into the link, coupling the cars. This car-coupling is very simple, safe, and durable, and not liable to get out of order.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with a drawhead, A, havin g interior chamber a, ot' the lslide D, curved lever E, and pin G, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention, we hereunto ailix our signatures this 8th day of March, 1875.

JOHN H. C. SMITH. NATHAN B. SMITH.

Vitnesses:

J. A. ZELLER, EMMA G. SHIPLEY. 

